Wild card Asia Muhammad may have lost in the first round of the U.S. Open, but not before her 15 minutes in the sun.

Aravane Rezai, a French-born player of Iranian descent ranked 74 on the WTA tour, defeated Muhammad  6-2, 6-4 on Monday.

But an interesting report in the NYTimes chronicles Asia's beginnings at Agassi's Boys & Girls Club in Las Vegas.

"Eight years ago, Asia's father Ron Holmes took his children to the corner of Washington and Martin Luther King in Las Vegas, eyeing the basketball program for his sons. Asia’s cousin, Jasmine Muhammad, was already in Agassi’s tennis program, in the process of hitting her way to Howard University.

"Asia hit a few balls at a tryout clinic; that was good enough. A couple of years later, she was on her way to being nationally ranked as a 13-year-old, to a slew of tournament victories and by March, still an amateur, to the final of a $50,000 tournament in Las Vegas."

While not the best start at the Open, chances are we'll be seeing a lot more from this talented 17-year-old in the future.

(Photo: NYTimes.com/Marilynn Yee)